President Obama is running statistically even with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in 12 key swing states and is slightly ahead of Texas Gov. Rick Perry and businessman Herman Cain, according to the USA Today/Gallup poll released Friday. The poll, which looks at both national trends and at the races in what everyone considers to be the 12 battleground states that will likely determine the 2012 election, paints a picture of Obama facing a tougher road to reelection than an incumbent should.

In a presidential race in which the importance of foreign affairs has been eclipsed by the domestic economy, President Obama has scored a popular success with his pledge to withdraw nearly all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of the year, according to the Gallup poll released Wednesday. The poll found that Americans overwhelmingly approved of bringing the troops home by 75% to 21%. Those results are consistent with polls showing Americans eager to wind down the Iraq war, which began with a U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

More than four out of five Americans say they are dissatisfied with the way the nation is being run, according to a Gallup survey reporting a resounding thumbs-down for the federal government as it prepares to deal with another round of budget challenges. As the Senate prepares to vote on Monday in yet-another drama threatening to shut down the government over spending issues, Gallup is reporting a record 81% of those surveyed saying they are dissatisfied with how the nation is governed.

Michele Bachmann may be the head of the Tea Party Caucus in Congress, but Rick Perry is the "tea party's" presidential favorite, according to a new Gallup poll. Thirty-five percent of Republican voters who support the tea party movement told Gallup last week that they prefer Perry out of a field of eight GOP presidential contenders. By comparison, just 14% favored Bachmann. The poll was conducted Aug. 17-21 and has a margin of error of four percentage points. It's the same poll that showed Perry with a considerable lead over the rest of the GOP presidential field among all Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.

It is the institution that everyone loves to hate and according to the latest Gallup poll released on Tuesday, there is seemingly no bottom to Americans' disapproval of Congress. According to the poll, a bare 13% of those surveyed approve of Congress, tying the worst record recorded in December 2010. Disapproval of the national lawmakers stood at 84%, a percentage point higher (hence, worse) than last December's. The findings are based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,008 adults conducted Aug. 11 to 14. It has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

Liberals, the small but often important electoral group, seem to be holding fast in their support for President Obama, according to the latest Gallup poll being circulated by Democrats. In an email to reporters Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee highlighted the poll, buried earlier this week under the crush of reporting about the debt-ceiling crisis. The poll comes amid growing media reports that liberals are becoming disenchanted with Obama, especially after what they see as the president's caving in to Republicans in the debt-limit negotiations.

The rosy glow that helped boost President Obama's approval ratings after terrorist leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. raid in Pakistan has already faded, according to the Gallup Daily tracking poll. As of May 13, Obama's approval rating was at 46%, the same number he had in the three days before the raid on Bin Laden's hideaway at the beginning of the month. The president had received a six-point bump as measured in the Gallup poll after the death of Bin Laden. In addition to getting an approval bump after the raid, Obama got a second bounce as fewer people disapproved of him. After the raid his disapproval numbers fell from 45% to 40%. In the current tracking poll numbers, his disapproval numbers were at 44%, almost the same as before the raid.

Even as politicians try to absorb the impact from the latest jobs figures, the number of Republicans who said the economy and business are their top issues has grown, according to a Gallup poll released on Friday. According to Gallup, 36% of Republicans in April said the economy and business were their top issues, up from 32% in March. That is roughly the same as those who say government spending and power are their top issues, 37%, and far higher than those who make social issues and moral values the most important factor, 15%. The findings come as the latest jobs numbers were released on Friday giving something for all sides.

More Americans prefer congressional Republicans than Democrats to handle the federal budget, but adults split evenly between the widely different plans offered by President Obama and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), according to the USA Today/Gallup poll. Dealing with financial issues will be at the top of the congressional agenda for the next months as Republicans and Democrats wrestle with budget deficits, the debt ceiling and related issues including tax reform. Those issues are expected to also form the framework for the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.